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January's Thoughts on Personal Finance

e-Newsletter for Jan '07

New Year's Resolutions -

Get paperwork organized! Trade that
pile of mail, bills and receipts for a neat organized filing system.
Prices start at $49!

Make a budget you can stick to! You
have money in your account now, but will you in two weeks? Two months?
One year? Forecast your bills knowing what to expect in the future,
so you can create a realistic budget that will work!

Stop paying late fees! You have
money, so why aren't those bills getting paid on time? Life's hectic,
the paperwork's overwhelming, and the time slips by! Call us for help
in creating tools to help you stay on top of those bills!

The Myths of Personal Finance

Myth #1 - Managing your money is Common Sense

I'm in a local bookstore searching through the Personal Finance
section. It's a rather large section so I stand there for a good 30
minutes scanning every book, trying to find one that will cover many
of the items that my clients need help with. No luck. I find books
on how to get rich quick (or slow), how to invest in the stock market,
and how to save for retirement/college education. But these aren't
the questions, we need answers to.

"What do I do right now if I don't
have enough money to pay my bills?" "Paying taxes, how does
that work?" "What does it mean to balance a checkbook? Do I
need to?"

I have clients of all incomes and backgrounds, and these are the
questions they don't ask, but need to.

Most people have to deal with basics of managing their personal
finances, but we don't do anything to educate ourselves in these
areas. It's assumed that our parents will teach us, or the
information is so simple, that we'll just figure it out when we need
to. As a result, we've created a whole generation of people who
believe this information is common sense.

The more serious issue is that because we all believe this is
common sense, we're not asking to be educated. And we, as a culture,
have developed a real sense of embarrassment around this topic. If we
write out a check incorrectly, or forget to pay the electric bill one
month, we don't talk about it. We berate ourselves for not knowing
better, and try to do better next time.

Education is the key. MJOrganizers offers training on how checking
accounts work, how paychecks work, how to read a credit report, how to
get your bills paid on time every month, and more! Contact us for
more information.